Bag apparatus for transfusion of blood or fluid involving heat shrinkable tube means

ABSTRACT

A bag apparatus for transfusion of blood and fluid which comprises a seal membrane provided in a cylindrical connection mouth member communicating with the interior of a blood or fluid transfusing bag made of flexible plastic material so as to normally prevent the fluid from being drawn out of the bag, a cannula disposed near the fluid feeding side of the seal membrane, said cannula communicating with a fluid conduit so as to draw the fluid through the seal membrane, a contractable thin walled tube for allowing the cylindrical connection mouth member and cannula to be connected airtight to each other and a heat shrinkable tube which permits a sterilizing steam to pass along the inner side thereof during steam sterilization and, after the sterilization contracts itself to bridge airtightly the conduit and thin walled tube.

United States Patent Koremura arr. 114, 1972 [54] BAG APPARATUS FOR TRANSFUSION OF BLOOD OR FLUID INVOLVING HEAT SHRINKABLE TUBE MEANS [21] Appl. No.: 40,692

3,033,439 5/1962 Arenbeclt 229/625 3,468,471 9/1969 Linder ..2l/56 X 3,009,463 11/1961 Cutter ..128/214.2

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 6,607,165 1l/l966 Netherlands ..128/214 1,082,035 6/1954 France ..l28/214 D Primary ExaminerDalton L. Truluck Attorney-Kemon, Palmer & Estabrook [5 7] ABSTRACT A bag apparatus for transfusion of blood and fluid which comprises a seal membrane provided in a cylindrical connection mouth member communicating with the interior of a blood or fluid transfusing bag made of flexible plastic material so as to normally prevent the fluid from being drawn out of the bag, a cannula disposed near the fluid feeding side of the seal membrane, said cannula communicating with a fluid conduit so as to draw the fluid through the seal membrane, a contractable thin walled tube for allowing the cylindrical connection mouth member and cannula to be connected airtight to each other and a heat shrinkable tube which permits a sterilizing steam to pass along the inner side thereof during steam sterilization and, after the sterilization contracts itself to bridge airtightly the conduit and thin walled tube.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures /=////V i 2 5 4 i 10 6 l l l 1 G L LII BAG APPARATUS FOR TRANSFUSION OF BLOOD OR FLUID INVOLVING HEAT SHRINKABLE TUBE MEANS The present invention relates to a blood or fluid transfusing bag and an apparatus involving the same which is improved in the connection mouth member communicating with the fluid conduit to draw the fluid out of the bag.

In the case where there is only required the administration of blood plasma, for example, where there is transfused blood to a hemophiliac or bleeder, some blood transfusing bag apparatus consists of a type wherein there is connected a separate bag through a connecting tube to a blood collection bag fitted with a blood collection needle and tube. According to this prior an transfusion apparatus, blood collected in the blood collection bag is centrifuged to separate blood corpuscles from plasma. The plasma alone is conducted to the separate bag, from which it is administered to a patient. With a bag apparatus handling medical liquids such as a glucose solution or Ringers solution, transfusion is carried out by additionally attaching a conduit provided with a cylindrical dripping and filtration member. The conventional blood transfusion bag apparatus of the aforesaid kind comprises a blood collection bag and separate bag which are individually manu factured and after being sterilized, connected to each other. Accordingly, there are encountered difficulties in keeping them sterilized when they are connected together and also effecting said connection and introducing blood plasma into the separate bag. Another prior art apparatus consists of a blood collection bag and separate bag connected by a flexible conduit with a spherical valve provided in that part of the connection section which faces the blood collection bag. This apparatus has the drawbacks that the spherical valve is likely to come off and there are presented difficulties in effecting sterilization and conducting blood plasma to the separate bag. The aforementioned medical liquid bag is encountered with similar shortcomings.

The object of the present invention is to provide a bag apparatus for transfusion of blood or fluid wherein there are made improvements in the connection mouth member connecting the blood collection bag and conduit so as to enable both blood collection and separate bags to be easily and reliably sterilized and introduction of blood plasma into the separate bag to be facilitated, thereby eliminating the drawbacks encountered with the prior art bag apparatus. Namely, the present invention provides a bag apparatus for transfusion of blood or fluid which comprises a blood or fluid transfusing bag made of flexible plastic material, a cylindrical connection mouth member communicating with the interior of the bag, said mouth member being provided with a seal membrane positioned in the passage of the fluid to block it, a cannula disposed adjacent to the fluid feeding side of the seal membrane, a conduit engaging the fluid outlet of the cannula, a contractable thin walled tube for allowing the cannula and cylindrical connection mouth member to be connected together airtight and aheat shrinkable tube fitted airtight to bridge the conduit and thin walled tube.

The present invention will be better understood from the following description, taken with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view, partly broken away, of a double bag assembly according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a connection section between the blood collection bag and conduit when it is not used;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same when it is used; and

FIG. 4 is a plan view, partly broken away, of a fluid transfusing bag.

There will now be described an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the appended drawings. Referring to FIG. I, numeral ll represents a blood collection bag or a blood transfusing bag made of flexible plastic material. On one peripheral side of the blood collection bag 1 is disposed a cylindrical blood collection mouth member 2 made of flexible plastic material. This cylindrical mouth member 2 communicates with the interior of the blood collection bag 1 through a spherical stop valve. To the cylindrical mouth member 2 is connected a blood collection tube 4 made of plastic material. To the outer end of the blood collection tube 4 is fitted a blood collection needle 5, which is in turn detachably fitted with a cap of elastic material. The blood! collection bag further has a cylindrical connection mouth member 7 juxtaposed with the blood collection mouth member 2 made of plastic material. The cylindrical mouth member 7 is: also made of flexible plastic material and communicates with the interior of the blood collection bag 1 at one end with a seal membrane integrally formed at the central part of the mouth member 7. To the other end of the mouth member 7 extending outside of the peripheral wall of the blood collection bag 1 is tightly attached one end of a thin walled tube 9 also made of flexible plastic material. Into the other end of the thin walled tube 9 is fitted a cannula 11 made of hard plastic material. That part of the cannula 11 which faces the seal membrane is provided with a needle section 110, whereby the cannula 111 communicates with the interior of the blood collection bag 1 through the seal membrane. The other end of the cannula 11 is formed into a small diameter section llb starting with a stepped portion 11a. Into the small diameter section 1 1b is inserted the end of a conduit 12 made of flexible plastic material. There is further fitted airtight a heat shrinkable tube 10 (e. g., a rubber tube) to bridge the conduit 12 and that part of the cannula 11 to which there is attached the thin walled tube 9. The other end of the conduit 12 is connected to the cylindrical fluid inlet 14 of a separate bag 13 having substantially the same construction as, but a smaller size than, the blood collection bag 1. The cylindrical inlet is disposed on one peripheral side of the separate bag 13 so as to communicate with the interior thereof through a spherical stop valve 15 made of flexible plastic material. On the peripheral wall of the separate bag 13 is juxtaposed with the inlet 14 a normally closed fluid administrating mouth member 16.

The blood collection bag 1 contains. a blood anticoagulant such as an acid-citrate-dextrose (abbreviated as ACD) solution. The blood collection bag 1, including the conduit 12 con nected to the cylindrical connection mouth member 7 through the thin walled tube 9, heat shrinkable tube 10, etc., is steam sterilized in an autoclave together with the separate bag 13. The interior of the blood collection bag I is sterilized due to the boiling of the ACD solution contained therein and the blood collection tube 4 is also sterilized due to introduction of steam through the end of the blood collection needle. With the separate bag 13, steam comes in, as shown in FIG. 2, through a space between the heat shrinkable tube 10 and thin walled tube 9, passes between the thin walled tube 9 and cannula 11 and enters the conduit 12 through the central hole due to the opening of the spherical valve 15 disposed in the cylindrical inlet 14 of the separate bag 13 to apply heat and moisture to the interior thereof. Therefore unlike indirect heating from the outer peripheral wall of the bag 13, use of steam reliably carries out sterilization. After sterilization, the heat shrinkable tube 10 contracts itself, causing the interior of the conduit 12 to be shut off from the atmosphere and consequently keeping it sterilized.

Upon completion of said sterilization, the cap 6 is taken off to allow blood to be collected into the blood collection bag 1 through the blood collection needle 5 and tube 41. The blood collection bag 1 is centrifuged to separate blood plasma from blood corpuscles. Then as shown in FIG. 3, the cannula 11 is advanced to bend the thin walled tube 9 and break the seal membrane, thus introducing the blood plasma collected in the blood collection bag 1 into the separate bag through the central hole 110 of the cannula 11 and conduit 12. Thereafter the blood plasma is administered to a patient by suitable means from the outlet 15 of the separate bag 13.

According to the foregoing embodiment, there is formed a taper portion 11d at the lower end of the cannula 11. When said taper portion 11d tightly engages; the cylindrical connection mouth member 7, the cannula 11 is prevented from coming off when it is used, that is, when there is conducted blood plasma. The needle section lle of the cannula 11 may consist of hard plastic material integrally formed with, for example, the taper portion 11d or a separate metal part. It is also possible to insert a tube made of elastic material like rubber between the inner peripheral wall of the heat shrinkable tube and the outer peripheral wall of the end of the conduit 12.

As mentioned above, the present invention consists in connecting the cannula 11 and cylindrical connection mouth member 7 with the thin walled tube 9 and fitting the heat shrinkable tube 10 so as to bridge the thin walled tube 9 and conduit 12 engaging the cannula 11. Accordingly, the present invention has the advantage that the separate bag 13 can be sterilized in an autoclave easilyand reliably apart from the blood collection bag 1 thus preserving greater wholesomeness, and blood plasma can also be easily separated and brought from the blood collection bag 1 to the separate bag 13.

FIG. 4 shows the case where the present invention is applied in a medical fluid bag. A medical fluid bag 21 and a cylindrical filter 22 are connected by the aforementioned thin walled tube 9 and heat shrinkable tube 10. Inside of the assembly of these tubes 9 and 10 is disposed a cannula l 1. There is further provided an injection syringe at the end of a connection tube 23 attached to the bottom end of the cylindrical filter 22. In this case, the entire apparatus can be sterilized in the same manner as in the preceding case and the contraction of the thin walled tube 9 causes the seal membrane of the medical fluid bag 21 to be broken, thereby allowing said bag 21 to communicate with the cylindrical filter 22. Therefore, there can be realized the same effect as in the foregoing embodiment.

What is claimed is:

1. A bag apparatus for transfusion of parenteral fluid which comprises:

a parenteral fluid transfusing bag made of flexible plastic material,

a cylindrical connection mouth member communicating with the bag and having a transverse seal membrane closing the member against passage of fluid,

a cannula positioned near the fluid feeding side of the seal membrane for puncture of the seal membrane,

a conduit engaging with the fluid outlet of said cannula,

a contractable thin walled tube providing a connection between said cannula and said cylindrical connection mouth member, said cannula being positioned within said tube and, a

a heat shrinkable tube bridging said conduit and said thin walled tube,

said heat shrinkable tube and thin walled tube being loosely fitted over the conduit and cannula so as to provide spaces between the heat shrinkable tube and conduit, and between the thin walled tube and cannula to permit sterilizing steam to pass through the spaces into the conduit,

said heat shrinkable tube, after sterilization of said apparatus contracting to create fluidtight connection between said conduit and thin walled tube,

said cannula having a taper portion on an end thereof which engages with the cylindrical connection mouth member to keep the cannula inserted into the seal membrane.

2. A bag apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said transfusing bag is connected via said conduit with a separate bag for separating blood plasma. 

1. A bag apparatus for transfusion of parenteral fluid which comprises: a parenteral fluid transfusing bag made of flexible plastic material, a cylindrical connection mouth member communicating with the bag and having a transverse seal membrane closing the member against passage of fluid, a cannula positioned near the fluid feeding side of the seal membrane for puncture of the seal membrane, a conduit engaging with the fluid outlet of said cannula, a contractable thin walled tube providing a connection between said cannula and said cylindrical connection mouth member, said cannula being positioned within said tube and, a heat shrinkable tube bridging said conduit and said thin walled tube, said heat shrinkable tube and thin walled tube being loosely fitted over the conduit and cannula so as to provide spaces between the heat shrinkable tube and conduit, and between the thin walled tube and cannula to permit sterilizing steam to pass through the spaces into the conduit, said heat shrinkable tube, after sterilization of said apparatus contracting to create fluidtight connection between said conduit and thin walled tube, said cannula having a taper portion on an end thereof which engages with the cylindrical connection mouth member to keep the cannula inserted into the seal membrane.
 2. A bag apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said transfusing bag is connected via said conduit with a separate bag for separating blood plasma. 